Settlement of Ming Urik

The history of ancient Tashkent in the era of Zoroastrianism gave descendants for memory many amazing traces of architectural structures and structures, which today are only evidence of the remains of foundations and hills, from the height of which a panorama of the city opens.Ming Urik Mound is one of the largest archaeological sites of the late antiquity and early Middle Ages in the territory of Tashkent, is the progenitor of the city, and, at the same time, its oldest core. The settlement is located in the central part of modern Tashkent, to the north of the Salar channel near the Northern railway station.On the map of 1971 it is clear that the ancient settlement of the citadel and shahristan has a total area of ​​35 hectares. Today, the settlement of Ming Urik is almost absorbed by modern buildings. Only its small part is preserved - a hill of triangular shape 42 x 30 m, height 15 m, to which a small plume, about 80 m long and 3-4 m wide, adjoins the north. The hill is heavily cut off from the west from the south (almost along the soles). During the excavation work, it became clear that the hill (the remains of the site of the ancient settlement) has a complex stratigraphy. The lowest horizon lies on the mainland and includes burnt remains of a tree, ashes, pebble leaves and remains of raw brick walls. Apparently, the original settlement arose on a small elevated site. A stream ran from the west at the south foot. Its remains were revealed during the cleaning of the cut of the southwestern part of the foot of the hill.In general, a monumental building with a square core and cross-shaped towers on Ming Uric, is a square two-story castle, the appearance of a castle-type building on Ming Uric could testify to the belonging of this building to a noble person who sought to show his claims and importance in the emerging urban development in this way.The next stage is the highest in the stratigraphy of the hill and is associated with the next redevelopment of the structure, which, in general, repeated the plan of the previous complex. By this time, the remains of administrative buildings are included. It included halls, corridors, cult rooms and storerooms. The walls were decorated with mural paintings, from which fragments and a portion of the lower border and pearls and shoots intertwined with ribbon, using black, white and red paint, were preserved.The central part of one of the halls was occupied by the altar elevation of the semi-oval form, burned at the top and covered with a layer of pure ash. Traces of pottery and metalworking craft were found on the territory of Ming Urik. Ceramic findings were insignificant, but rather expressive. In addition to ceramics, iron objects, terracotta figurines and toys are also found.Today, Ming Urik is an open-air museum that is under the protection of the state and where interesting installations are shown that help visitors to learn about the life and way of life of the ancestors of the past centuries.